The Telangana High Court has disqualified Khairatabad MLA Danam Nagender, bringing his Assembly tenure to an end and opening the way for a fresh election in the constituency.
A Division Bench of Chief Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh and Justice G.M. Mohiuddin overturned the decision of Assembly Speaker Gaddam Prasad Kumar, who had earlier rejected petitions seeking Nagender’s disqualification. The case came before the High Court after BJP MLA Alleti Maheshwar Reddy and BRS MLA Padi Kaushik Reddy challenged the Speaker’s order.
Nagender won the Khairatabad seat on a BRS ticket in the 2023 Assembly elections. He later joined the Congress and contested the 2024 Lok Sabha election from Secunderabad on a Congress ticket while still holding the Assembly seat.
The court made the disqualification effective from April 23, 2024. It also declared the Khairatabad seat vacant. The Assembly Speaker is expected to inform the Election Commission about the vacancy, after which the poll panel will decide the schedule for the by-election.
